Virgil van Dijk wants ‘unforgettable’ season as Liverpool chase quadruple

Virgil van Dijk has said Liverpool are intent on delivering an “unforgettable” season and their pursuit of an unprecedented quadruple should not be taken for granted.

Liverpool’s bid to add the Champions League and Premier League to their Carabao Cup triumph has entered a crucial phase with visits to Benfica on Tuesday and Manchester City on Sunday. Before the quarter-final first leg in Lisbon, Van Dijk insisted the high stakes and constant pressure on Jürgen Klopp’s team should be enjoyed, and the position Liverpool are in cherished.

The commanding defender, asked whether Liverpool had everything to gain or to lose, replied: “We don’t look at it that way. We just want to make this season hopefully an unforgettable one, for us as players, for the staff but for the whole club.

“The things that have been going on at the moment at Liverpool are something that no one should take for granted. As a group we are very stable, we have a fantastic squad, with the manager, the whole relationship with the club and the performances. We should just enjoy it: go out there and give it your all.

“If that is enough at the end of the season then happy days. If not then we try again next year. But we shouldn’t take for granted what is happening at the moment.”

Klopp’s side are strong favourites to reach the Champions League semi-finals, where they could face either Bayern Munich or Villarreal, and Van Dijk, part of a defence that has conceded only three goals in the last 13 matches, believes Liverpool are well-equipped for the defining stages of the season.

He added: “We are definitely more experienced [in big moments]. We have been in the situation where Manchester City is, we have been in Champions League finals, so we have been in this